Weight Watcher - USAToday

Jean Nidetch, the founder of Weight Watchers International, was once a housewife who weighed more than 200 pounds. She slimmed down to 142 pounds in 1962 and has never been heavy again.

Now, at 86, she lives in a retirement community in Parkland, Fla., and has written her autobiography, The Jean Nidetch Story.

She says she never dreamed that her weight-loss experience would lead to a successful international company that would help millions trim down.

Nidetch struggled with her weight from childhood through early adulthood. One of her food obsessions was Mallomars, a chocolate-covered marshmallow cookie, she says. “That was my Frankenstein,” her name for a craving that’s impossible to resist. “For some crazy reason I had to have them. I didn’t want my husband or children to see, so I put them in a plastic bag and put them in the hamper.”

The turning point

She kept getting bigger.

She weighed 214 and wore a size 44 when she was finally motivated to lose weight in 1962 by a chance encounter in the supermarket.

“I ran into a neighbor who said, ‘Oh, Jean, you look so good.’ I was feeling very good about the compliment, and then she said, ‘When are you due?’ I didn’t know how to answer her because I wasn’t pregnant. I don’t remember what I said, but I will never forget it.”

Nidetch says she realized she needed to look at herself in a full-length mirror, but she didn’t have one. “I didn’t look at my body. I only looked at myself from the neck up. I was very interested in my makeup and hairdo.”

She decided to try a diet program run by the New York City Board of Health Manhattan. She lived in Brooklyn at the time and had to take two buses and the subway to get to the offices for the board of health.

When she arrived, “there was the thin girl at the desk, and I asked where the group was. And she said, ‘You want the obesity clinic.’ I had never heard the word obese before. It shocked me. I said, ‘I guess I do.’ “

She found a seat in the last row “and I didn’t take my coat off. I sat next to a woman who was also wearing her coat.”

The woman running the meeting was a very thin nutritionist who had a picture of a fat woman next to her. She told the group it was a picture of her.

The nutritionist gave the participants a diet that recommended, among other things, that they eat fish several times a week, eat two slices of bread and drink two glasses of skim milk a day, Nidetch says. “I had never bought skim milk. I never drank milk. I drank soda. I drank everything that was fattening.”

She lost 20 pounds in 10 weeks. Then she decided to invite some overweight friends to her apartment to tell them about the diet. “I am a sharer,” she says. “When you give of yourself, you get back. I had to share it, so I called all my overweight friends. I only had overweight friends.”

Start of something big

That meeting snowballed into more meetings, and in 1963, she created Weight Watchers International with the help of a savvy businessman.

Nidetch has had plenty of time to observe obesity in action since then. She noticed years ago that thin people have different meal-time habits than overweight people. “Thin people release the fork,” she says, “and they chew the food with the fork on the table. They chew their food slowly. They look around at each other or the wall or a picture. They listen to the music. They sit back and take a breath. They do something other than concentrate on shoving the food into their body.

“Overweight people never let go of their fork. They hold it when they are talking. They hold it when they are chewing. I discovered that is one of the secrets. Let go of the instrument that made you fat.”

She says she has never told anyone he needed to lose weight. “I don’t believe in telling people. But people say to me, ‘I wish I could lose weight.’ I say, ‘Wishing won’t do it. I know you can. If you want me to, I’ll help.’ “

It’s often a matter of putting food into perspective. “Food is not your remedy for problems,” she says. “Food is not going to change your life. If you are lonely, food is not going to be your company. If you are sad, food is not going to give you solace.”

And she continues to offer encouragement to others. “If you want to lose weight, you will — you can,” she says. “You are capable. I’m 86, and I have blonde hair. That’s not nature. It takes a desire … and sometimes it’s rather uncomfortable to get it done. It costs time and money. If you really want to do it, and you know it’s your desire and you’re capable of it, you will. It’s that simple.”

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Pick the one that’s perfect for you.

ZumeWalk - Walking for Fitness

Easy? Check. Cost-free? Check. Gets real results…that really last? Check, check. Well, what more could you want from a slim-down plan — except that it be flexible enough to fit into your busy schedule? Okay, this one does that, too.

In fact, this plan is so easy and natural, it hardly feels like a weight-loss program. Of course, that’s the beauty of walking: The simple act of placing one foot in front of the other — no gadgets, no gear, no trips to the gym — can totally transform your figure, even if you don’t change one thing about your diet!

Walking can also transform your health. Experts now say that taking roughly 10,000 steps per day sets off a chain reaction of physical benefits, including lower blood pressure, reduced risk for heart disease and better odds for preventing breast cancer.

Does 10,000 steps sound overwhelming? A little perspective: It translates into 4.5 to 5 miles, or one hour of rapid walking. Still sound like a lot? Try breaking it into shorter bits: three 20-minute errands on foot, one breezy 30-minute walk before breakfast and another after dinner. Or simply commit to getting up once an hour, every hour throughout your day and moving for five minutes.

However you break down the steps, there’s only one fabulous result: a slimmer, more energetic you. In 60 minutes of walking, you’ll burn 300 to 500 additional calories. Keep that up for 10 days and you’ll lose a pound. Keep it up for a year and you’ll be 35 pounds lighter — without a minute of dieting.

Beginners!
Focus on miles, not minutes.When you start your walking workout, don’t be intimidated if you can’t keep pace with the time suggestions here. These are your ultimate goals, but the health and weight-loss benefits of walking are measured in number of steps, not minutes. Even if it takes you 20 minutes to walk a mile instead of the 13-minute ideal, don’t give up. Your first goal is to reach the 10,000-steps marker, then worry about whittling down the time it takes to reach it. Do a little more each day, but don’t overdo it. Good luck! (If you’ve never exercised or haven’t done so in a while, check with your doctor first.)

How to customize your workout:
A pedometer registers step count, but maximum health benefits also require the right exertion level. Rule of thumb: If you can’t catch your breath enough to say hi to a friend, slow down. Able to belt out your favorite song, no problem? You’re taking it too easy. To up your workout ante, consider these variations:

• Increase your pace, not your stride. Taking more steps per minute instead of longer ones not only helps you walk faster (a 12- to 13-minute mile is optimal), it also elevates your heart rate without increasing your risk of injury.
• Pretend you’re on a tightrope. Professional walkers place one foot directly in front of the other, as opposed to taking hip-width strides. Follow suit, and you’ll increase your energy output and use more major muscle groups.
• Work your arms. Bend your elbows at a 90-degree angle and pump them back and forth as you step. This propels you forward faster and burns more calories.
• Head for the hills! Adding an angle is the surest way to increase the intensity of your walking workout. If you’re on a treadmill, use the elevation button.
• Use weights or walking sticks — both give a more complete workout. The two dumbbells should weigh less than 10 percent of your body weight. Walking sticks (not to be confused with the kind Granddad may have sported) increase energy expended by 20 percent; order a pair at nordicwalker.com.

Do you really have time for a walking workout? Absolutely — you just need to find a routine that fits into your already superfried schedule. Pick your profile from one of our three plans, and let us solve your when, where and how.

1. “I don’t have a full hour. Can I still squeeze in exercise?”

PROFILE: Your job or your family, or both, have you going all day long. You never get more than 20 minutes to yourself, and commuting eats up a lot of that time.

Your 60-minute walking workout:

2. “I’ll concentrate and do it all at once.”

PROFILE: Lucky you. Finding a full hour to devote to working out is no problem — and you’d rather bite the bullet and get it done than worry about weaving it into your day.

Your 60-minute walking workout:

3. “Help! I hate to exercise!”

PROFILE: It’s tedious, time-consuming and boring. To hit 10,000 steps a day, your workout has to be fun, or it’s not going to happen!

Your 10,000-step walking workout:

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it's cold so zumewalking on treadmill

Zume? ZumeWalk?

Never heard of it. Is it a real word? And what the hell does it mean anyway?

OK. Let me tell you a little about how I came up with the word ZumeWalk. The word, Zume, is more about a feeling than it is about a literal word. It’s the feeling you get when you complete a great walk or better yet a month of walks. You’re “zooming”. A good example is how you feel zooming in your car with the sun roof open or the top down on a beautiful sunny Friday. The music is blasting a favorite song and you’re singing at the top of your lungs. And you don’t care what the world thinks.

That’s ZUME!

Or you finish your first month of walking and your clothes start to fit a little looser. You feel a little ZUME. No actually you feel a lot ZUME!  After all that breathing, thinking and working your heart you can’t help it. You feel better. You’re on your way to a healthy and fit life. There is nothing like it. Except maybe sharing a walk with someone else. A ZumeBuddy.

So go ahead - ZumeWalk.
And change your life!

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ZumeWalk - step by step for fitness and weight loss

So what is ZumeWalking?

It’s daily walking routine and building foundation of fitness - step by step. Zumewalking is a personal exercise journey created by each of us and accomplished by walking consistently.

What better way to take a journey than with friends, family or the people who have similar goals. Whether online or next door they can share in our journey and we in theirs. Sharing with those who are chasing the same goal - a fit life. Raising money, sharing ideas and resources. One of my main goals is to raise money by having a one day walk, nationwide, raising money for a charity like St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. More on this later.

Take that first step and start walking. Make it a part of your life. Waiting won’t change you. Walk out your front door. Go step by step and day by day and soon it will become something you have do, enjoy to do and then love to do. Start small and let it grow. You can do it! I know you can because walking is the perfect exercise and everyone can do it.

I’m here to help you and one day as we grow we’ll all be here to help and encourage. Reaching out to lend a helping hand, word of encouragement, a wave, hello or nod as we pass on our daily walk. As ZumeWalk develops, I’ll start creating more resource based content that will help you start, continue and hopefully, feed your exercise curiosity.

Mike Zume says ZumeWalking is exercise for the rest of us. Exercise for the rest of life.

Please consult your physician before starting any exercise or weight loss program.
Your physician is your very best resource.

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zumewalk.com: walking for stress relief

Walking Away the Stress

OK, I’ve figured it out. I’ve been walking a little less each month for the last three months because of a busy work schedule. My monthly average dropped to around 75 miles per month but more importantly my days per week of walking fell off a cliff - 3 per week. This does not work for me! I’ve got to be out there walking five to six days per week or it show up in my daily life in other ways, not just at the waist line.

How does it show up in my life, you ask?

Well it show up it not ridding my life and body of stress and it shows up in not clearing my mind each day. Both are very important but the one I realized I needed the most was the creative thinking time.

Take a peek at this article from Martha Stewart’s WholeLiving dot com titled “Walking for Stress Relief.” Text by Kate Hanley; photography by John-Francis Bourke.

You know that a brisk walk around the block can clear your head. But it can do even more. Walking rivals yoga, meditation, and tai chi as a powerful mindfulness practice, says Danny Dreyer, a running coach, ultramarathoner, and creator of the ChiRunning and ChiWalking programs. Dreyer has spent years teaching people how to use walking to relieve physical and mental stress by moving in a relaxed way and focusing on physical sensations.

In the following exercise, Dreyer shows how to elevate a simple walk to a meditation in motion, just by using breath and awareness to target tension and trigger the body’s relaxation response. Try this simple stress reliever before an important meeting, after a workday, or any time you need to recapture a calmer, more centered state of mind.

Find a Quiet Place
Choose to walk somewhere soothing — around a lake instead of along a busy road, for instance.

Breathe Away Tension
Start with your head and observe any tension you might be feeling there. Take a deep inhale, and then with each exhale, imagine releasing tightness in your head and neck. Continue with your shoulders, arms, chest, belly, glutes, upper legs, lower legs, and feet. Spend several breaths on each area, gradually inviting every part of your body to relax. Repeat this exercise.

Take Time to Unwind
Walk for at least 15 minutes, or longer if you have time.

Tip: Focus on tension hot spots throughout your body; this will help you open up and unwind.

I must find my time to walk and think, not only to maintain a fit existence but to fill my mind will the creative and positive thoughts that keep me happy and productive.

Have you had your walk today? Might make a bigger difference than just at the waistline.

MikeZume says, walking a little everyday lowers my stress levels and fills my mind with positive MOJO.

Please consult your physician before starting any exercise or weight loss program.
Your physician is your very best resource.

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What walking is meditation?

I can only speak about my experiences walking for many years, when I walk after a short period of time my mind seems to clear. Once this clearing takes place my ability to see issues becomes more relaxed and my thoughts flow much more easily, allowing free and easy resolution or creativity. This article appearing at WildMind dot com takes an interesting look at walking and achieving a state of meditation.

Walking meditation is a form of meditation in action.

In walking meditation we use the experience of walking as our focus. We become mindful of our experience while walking, and try to keep our awareness involved with the experience of walking. Actually, there are several different kinds of walking meditation. We’ll just be looking at one of them in detail, although we’ll touch on the others. Once you’ve mastered one form, you’ll easily be able to pick up the others.

Obviously, there are some differences between walking meditation and sitting meditation. For one thing we keep our eyes open during walking meditation! That difference implies other changes in the way we do the practice. We are not withdrawing our attention from the outside world to the same extent that we do when we are doing the Mindfulness of Breathing or Metta Bhavana(development of lovingkindness) practices. We have to be aware of things outside of ourselves (objects we might trip over, other people that we might walk into) and there are many other things outside of ourselves that we will be more aware of than when we are doing sitting – especially if we sit inside. These include the wind, the sun, and the rain; and the sounds of nature and of humans and machines.

But one of the biggest differences is that it’s easier, for most people, to be more intensely and more easily aware of their bodies while doing walking meditation, compared to sitting forms of practice. When your body is in motion, it is generally easier to be aware of it compared to when you are sitting still. When we’re sitting still in meditation the sensations that arise in the body are much more subtle and harder to pay attention to than those that arise while we’re walking, This can make walking meditation an intense experience. You can experience your body very intensely, and you can also find intense enjoyment from this practice.

The practice of walking meditation can also be fitted in to the gaps in our lives quite easily. Even walking from the car into the supermarket can be an opportunity for a minute’s walking meditation.

The form of walking meditation we’ll be introducing here is best done outdoors. For your first attempt, you might want to find a park or open space where you will be able to walk for twenty minutes without encountering traffic.

Try these walking meditation methods for yourself, walking has been one of my greatest creative outlets and a major piece of stress relief in my everyday life. What are you waiting for, take your first steps today.

MikeZume_walking step by step for stress relief.

Please consult your physician before starting any exercise or weight loss program.
Your physician is your very best resource.

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ZumeWalking for Stress Relief

As you have seen, my posting has been less than stellar but my heart is always with you, the reason is work and starting another company. With work comes travel and when you travel, it can be more important grab some exercise and rid yourself of the stress than when you’re home in your regular routine.

7 Tips for Staying in Shape on the Road

Please consult your physician before starting any exercise or weight loss program.
Your physician is your very best resource.

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